


Thalia's Collection of Broken Kids (Self Included)

by Aivelle



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: (I might change the summary later), Accidental Child Acquisition, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Mortal, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Thalia Grace, Canon LGBTQ Character(s), Children of the Big Three (Percy Jackson), Depression, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Family Feels, Homelessness, Kid Fic, Lesbian Thalia Grace, M/M, Minor Character Death, POV Thalia Grace, Past Child Abuse, Suicidal Thoughts, Thalia-centric, Zeus’s A+ Parenting, except Bianca (she still dead sorry B)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:53:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28031196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aivelle/pseuds/Aivelle
Summary: It started when a CPS agent knocked at her door and handed her a scared little kid, clutching a stuffed fish and looking at Thalia as though she’s going to pounce at him.Before she knew it, other vaguely-related-to-her-children gradually started to overflow her apartment because the adults in her family are shit.
Relationships: Thalia Grace & Hazel Levesque, Thalia Grace & Jason Grace, Thalia Grace & Nico Di Angelo, Thalia Grace & Percy Jackson, future Thalia Grace/Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano
Comments: 11
Kudos: 57





	Thalia's Collection of Broken Kids (Self Included)

**Author's Note:**

> things like depression and suicidal thoughts won't be too graphic in this fic but please mind the tags nonetheless. I'll put warnings at the beginning of the chapters for those who might need them.
> 
> TW: child abuse, references to bipolar disorder

Jason was wailing in the living room. It was louder than usual, the cries resounding clearly throughout the entire house.

Thalia, however, paid no heed to the persistent crying as she brutally chopped the sleek blond hair of her Barbie dolls.

From the day he was conceived, Thalia's mother had nothing else to occupy herself with other than little baby Jason and thus had no time to spare for her only daughter. Ever since then, Thalia made a point to largely ignore her brother's existence, thinking he had enough attention as is. But their mom wasn't home today because when she wasn't too busy doting on her precious baby boy, she was preoccupied with her carrier. And from what Thalia saw in recent tabloids on Famous Movie Star Beryl Grace Caught In An Affair Again, she’s probably not going to be back home for a while. 

Jason kept crying. The high-pitched shrieking grated at Thalia's nerves. Thalia's surprised he hasn't stopped already. Normally, when he realizes no one's going to come for him, his screams cease and sobs fade into quiet whimpers until finally, he's blissfully silent. Today, his screams seemed only to get louder and much more obnoxious.

Once all her dolls were either sporting a buzzcut or a choppy mess on their plastic heads, Thalia moved on to the dresses but then a particularly ear-splitting cry caused her to cut into a Barbie gown deeper than she intended causing her to accidentally nick her finger. Thalia hissed in pain and brought her bleeding finger to her mouth. It stung. Furious, Thalia flung the doll and scissors across her room and stomped her way downstairs.

Thalia wanted to go down there and make the wailing child shut up but she froze at the sight that met her in the living room. The toddler was sitting on the carpet between the couch and coffee table, toys strewn around him, and blood staining his shirt. 

At the sight of her, Jason, almost pointedly, cried even louder and raised his chubby little arms towards her, seeking comfort.

Forgetting her previous anger, Thalia huffed and made her way to the sniveling toddler. She plopped down on the floor next to him and dragged her brother into her lap. At the closer inspection, she could see the blood was coming from around his mouth which was smeared in red like in those scary movies Thalia watched secretly on her laptop. She grabbed the hem of her shirt to press it against Jason’s mouth. That didn't seem to do much other than soak her shirt with blood and snot. The boy continued crying. Thalia considered leaving him there and putting on her headphones on max volume.

The kid was red in the face and tears started to run anew. It was disgusting. Looking away, she spotted the culprit in the form of a blood-stained stapler, abandoned on the floor. Frowning, Thalia pulled her shirt away from Jason's mouth and saw a single silver staple hanging off his upper lip.

With childlike tenacity, Thalia attempted to remove the staple with her nails making Jason cry impossibly louder. He didn't stop even after Thalia easily plucked the damn thing from the mess of blood, tears, and snot. With the staple gone, more blood streamed down his lip and started dripping from his chin.

"Ew." Thalia pushed him off and headed to the bathroom, leaving the toddler desperately crying after her, shouting what almost sounded like her name but came out incoherent. In the bathroom, Thalia rolled out a generous amount of toilet paper and brought it back with her to the living room. She found Jason crawling after her, dripping a red trail after himself. She sighed and knelt to put the scrunched ball of toilet paper to his mouth.

Picking him up, Thalia took them to the couch and flipped the channels while Jason snuggled up to her and slowly stopped sobbing. 

"Look, it's mom." Thalia points to the TV. 

On the screen, a famous talk show host interviewed an equally famous actress, Beryl Grace. She was pretty, sitting on that couch, her body angled towards the host, her slim face showing great interest in what the man was saying. She wore an elegant pantsuit and black heels that accentuated her slender figure. The curled blond hair took away the years that the outfit gave her, a picture of maturity and young beauty put together in one neat little package.

_"So the rumors are false?"_

_"Yes. Zeus and I had made a mistake once already and I admit to it. But... I must say it was a whole other time. I mean it was eleven years ago when we met. I was sixteen, young and dumb, and greatly enamored by Zeus. Besides, He and Hera had been on a separation when I had my first child and we wouldn't even think of going behind her back like that. Not then and certainly not now. You know, as a woman I really respect Hera."_

_"You say 'first child'. Are you saying there's more?"_

_"No. Of course not. As I said, these rumors are false; Zeus and I did not have an affair and these allegations that I had another child by him are just absurd."_

Thalia turned off the TV.

* * *

Thalia spent the rest of her childhood raising Jason while Beryl spent most of her time maintaining her image. Thalia understood now that the obsession with Jason around the time he was born didn’t come from love but rather from concern for her reputation. These days she was perfectly content pretending he doesn't exist. And she was good at it. She's an actress after all. And with the powerful connections that Beryl had developed throughout the years, records, documents, and all proof of her second child's existence were... nonexistent. Thalia was sure that if Beryl had had that power at the time, she would've erased Thalia as well.

As for Zeus... The businessman had publicly claimed he had cut off all ties with the Grace family even though Thalia had proof that suggested otherwise. A while ago, she had found rather graphic videos of Beryl and Zeus saved on her mother's computer. Why her parent felt the need to record their endless infidelity, Thalia couldn't fathom. 

It was in that moment when she was face to face with the horrifying video footage of Beryl and Zeus in bed, dressed in ridiculous makeshift costumes consisting of sheets, laurels, and golden chains, that Thalia lost all respect she might have had for either of her parents.

And so, with Beryl and Zeus behaving like drunk teenagers, for four years, Thalia was forced to play the adult and raise both herself and her little brother. Every day, she took him to school, barely making it on time for her own classes. She made sure he ate each day. She comforted him after a bad dream. She took him to the park when he was bored. She bought him clothes, school books, signed his permission slips in her mother’s handwriting. She did everything he needed.

For a while, Thalia resented him for it. At some point, she was so sick and tired of it, that in the heat of the moment she decided to pack her bag, sneak out, and crashed in her friend's house. It was the most blissful two days of her life. Often, she would fantasize about running away like this permanently. She'd grab her stuff, her mother's credit card, her father's car keys, and she wouldn't look back. Sometimes that thought was the only thing that kept her going.

But once Thalia made her way back home, she found Beryl yelling at a cupboard and Jason’s whimpers coming from inside it. Thalia had gotten into a shouting match with her mother until Beryl had had enough and slapped her across the face. The woman stalked off, a wine bottle in hand, leaving Thalia with a stinging cheek and a bruised brother on her hands.

Thalia remembered how Jason clung to her, when she pulled him out of the cupboard. How his skinny arms, covered in red and blue, wrapped around her neck almost too tightly. How he cried into her shoulder, his voice hoarse, and tears wetting her hair. 

He hadn't eaten or slept at all during the two days she was gone.

Thalia held him and cried too. She knew she'd never leave as long as Jason needed her. She never did, after that incident.

But for all her neglect and impatience with children, Beryl still seemed to be under the delusion that she had a relationship with her children. Sometimes when the woman would get in one of those moods, she'd expect Thalia and Jason to run to her feet like overzealous puppies as though she had always been a picture-perfect mother. Like in those shows she starred in. But when they didn't follow the script, she would lose it. Thalia lost count of how many times Beryl stormed into her room and started shouting herself hoarse for some reason or other, Thalia could rarely follow her violent tangents. 

One day, when Thalia picked Jason from school he showed her a drawing he made of two stick figures. The tall one had black hair and lightning bolts shooting out of its hand. The smaller one was holding the taller one’s other hand with a smile on its face. Underneath it, in a childish scrawl read 'Tala' and 'Jason'. Thalia felt an actual warm sensation in her chest when her brother presented her the picture. She wanted to look at it forever. 

But then Beryl had snatched the paper from her hands. To Thalia's utmost bewilderment, Beryl ripped the piece of paper and pulled Thalia's hair. She threw her daughter to the floor, yelling prophanities. She barked for Jason to get down to the living room and went on yelling how _she_ was his mother, she gave birth to him, he belonged to her, and how she deserved some gratitude. Thalia moved to step in front of her mother and redirect her anger away from Jason. Beryl ended up grabbing her again and this time throwing Thalia out of the house threatening to kill her if she dared to come back.

Thalia realized then that on top of being a shit parent, Beryl was also severely unstable.

Thalia camped out in the garden, hidden in a tent behind bushes. The next morning, Thalia found her mother passed out drunk in the kitchen. When she woke, she either didn't remember anything that happened yesterday or pretended to. Thalia had an idea which one it was when the cycle repeated again and again throughout the years. Beryl would flip out, kick Thalia out of the house, and act as though nothing happened the next day. 

Growing up with an insane mother, Thalia had learned to avoid some of her triggers. 

Beryl hated the fact that Jason loved her daughter more than her. Thalia told Jason not to hug her or even talk to her too much when Beryl was watching. Beryl thought of herself as a good mother. Thalia taught Jason not to show fear when Beryl walked into the room. Beryl could do no wrong, everything was everyone else's fault. This one Thalia had to keep reminding herself. She never argued with her mother, never blamed her for anything. Thalia apologized for her mistakes even when they weren't hers to begin with.

Each interaction with her mother was laced with those rules in mind. Sometimes, Thalia manages to avoid Beryl's catastrophic outbursts. Other times, they come no matter how careful Thalia is.

"Good morning," her mother said pointedly as Thalia entered the kitchen one day.

"Mornin'," Thalia replied quietly, knowing that if she ignored her, it would give Beryl more reason to snap.

Thalia started preparing breakfast for herself and Jason. It seemed Beryl was content eating stale cereal Thalia bought with her own money last month. 

"Would it kill you to wash your face once in a while?" Beryl comments offhandedly.

Thalia felt her cheeks heat up despite herself, angry and embarrassed. She scowled but kept busy cooking eggs and bacon.

Acne started popping up on her freckled face a year ago when she started high school but recently it started getting particularly prominent. It's just like her mom to bring up the things she's most self-conscious about. 

"What, cat got your tongue? _Answer_ me." Thalia could feel her gaze drilling into her back. Beryl seemed to be in one of her moods today. Thalia bit her lip and picked on it with her teeth. 

She was saved from giving a carefully crafted neutral answer when Jason came through the swinging doors of the kitchen, bleary-eyed and still in his pajamas. Thalia hastily scrubbed the eggs off of the pan and transferred them onto a plate along with toast and bacon. 

"Go eat in your room and wait for me there." Thalia handed Jason his breakfast. If Beryl decided to flip out today, she'd rather Jason wasn't here when that happens.

He nodded and scurried away.

Thalia realized her mistake too late.

It was almost like the tension in the room physically got colder. There was a sudden and load scrape of a chair on the tiled floors. Turning around, Thalia was ready for the outburst. 

Beryl stood at the table, fuming, red in the face, jaw clenching and unclenching, looking every bit like a wild animal about to go on a rampage.

Beryl caught sight of the sink and snatched one of the dirty plates, stirring the pile and causing them to topple. "WHY ARE THE DISHES NOT DONE, HUH?"

"Because you fired the housekeeper last week."

Beryl flung the dirty plate at Thalia's head. It missed narrowly and crashed into the wall behind her causing Thalia to flinch and stiffen in place, afraid to move yet desperately wanting to leave.

"You little BITCH! JASON, GET BACK HERE!"

Thalia knew he wouldn't. She taught him not to.

Beryl started pacing. Impulsively, she grabbed a kitchen knife and clenched it in a white-knuckled grip. When Jason didn't appear, Beryl started throwing other utensils that had the misfortune of being in hand's reach.

"We need to go to school," Thalia muttered in hopes of escaping the situation.

"LIKE HELL YOU ARE!" Beryl yelled. 

Thalia made for the door but turned in the doorframe when the madwoman started rushing towards her. In a moment of panic, Thalia smashed the swinging door into Beryl's face as her mother was about to grab her. She cried out in pain and dropped to the ground. Thalia turned tail and ran, leaving Beryl on the floor clutching her head. 

"Don't even think of coming back, you bitch!" Beryl moaned. 

With her heart in her throat, Thalia hastily grabbed her bag from her room and helped Jason dress.

"I finished my eggs." He showed her the empty plate.

"That's good," Thalia said breathlessly. She found his backpack, dumped his school books, and started shoving his clothes instead. She's going to have to leave again and wait until Beryl cools off and there's no way she's leaving her seven-year-old brother in here.

"Thalia...?" Jason said, confused, his little brows furrowed. 

"It's okay. You wanna sleepover at Leo's?"

His eyes brightened at that. He nodded. 

"Great. Come on, get your stuff." She went through the familiar routine of packing but this time for her brother. Two changes of clothes, toothbrush, allowance money, snacks, water bottle. Jason insisted on shoving down his toys and iPad too even though there was barely any space.

Hand in hand, they scrambled to leave as quickly as possible. 

* * *

Having successfully dropped off her little brother at his friend's house, Thalia caught a taxi and gave the driver the address to her father's place.

_Well, this was a good time as any to use her leverage._ Once in the car, Thalia opened her phone, found her parents' sex tape, and sent it to Zeus. 

During the times she spent couch-surfing and sleeping in various places every time her mother kicked her out, Thalia came up with a backup plan in case she couldn't do either. When she found the unfortunate videos on her mother's laptop, Thalia had sent them to herself for just such occasion. She knew that if she showed up without the blackmail, Zeus would turn her away without a second thought. 

The cab pulled up at her destination, a five-star hotel in New York City. Thalia sneaked past the security and reception with little effort. Once inside the elevator, she hit the button for the top floor and the elevator begun to rise and halt to let others in and out.

Thalia shifted, uncomfortably. She didn't have a particular affinity to small, confined spaces. The more crowded it got, the more she itched to get off. Thankfully not a lot of people were using the elevator right now. Once, she was alone, Thalia turned to the mirror behind her and noticed her hair was a mess. She attempted to finger-comb the wild locks to smooth it down. During her freshman year, she cut it herself in a fit of rebellion against her mother who had especially obsessed over her looks at the time. It grew into a shaggy, uneven bob. The shortest strands fell to her eyes and the longest to her shoulders. She never minded it before yet now, when she's about to face her undoubtedly furious father for the first time since she was a baby, Thalia suddenly found herself to be self-conscious of it.

Yes, she can only imagine his reaction when he received the message. Thalia didn't want to think about it but her mind already started to wonder. 

What if Zeus decides to call his lawyers? He could easily have her arrested and out of his hair. And then what is she supposed to do? Thalia knew Beryl would not be so kind as to bail her out. And if the school found out she'd be in more trouble. They would take her away. Put her in a home, perhaps. That was fine though, she never liked living with her mom. But then Jason wouldn't have anyone.

Her breathing started to quicken, the walls started closing in on her, there was a sharp _ping_ and the sliding doors opened. Thalia threw herself out of the elevator and took a sharp breath. 

For a moment, she just stood there, eyes shut, trying to calm her mind and settle her beating heart. After taking several shaky breaths, Thalia looked up. At the end of the hallway, stood dramatically giant, carved double doors with Greek columns on either side of it. And her father's room number.

Thalia clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms, the sharp currents of pain grounded her. What was she even worried about? A man that didn't have the guts to be there for them? A cheater? An absolute shit of a father and husband?

Before she could convince herself otherwise, Thalia approached the stupidly pretentious doors and knocked.

The doors swung open instantly.

Before she knew it, Thalia was face to face with a man she only ever saw in news reports and tabloids.

Immediately his eyes caught hers, an identical stormy blue to stormy blue. He looked just like in the photos; tall, muscular, black hair, strong jaw, dressed in an expensive suit. Except he looked much more menacing in person. Or was it the circumstances that made him look down on her like she was dirt on the back of his shoe? 

Before she could speak, Zeus cocked his head towards his apartment. "Come in."

He stomped back inside and Thalia had no choice but to follow. The penthouse was spacious with modern design but she didn't have much time to gawk at it because Zeus was pulling out his phone and flashing the video Thalia sent him.

"What is this?" he demanded.

Thalia blinked at him. "Do you want me to describe it or...?"

"Don't play dumb!" he cuts her off sharply. "What is this about, huh? You want money? Is that what you're here for?" 

Thalia stared at him.

" _Fuck_ you." She couldn't believe him. And to think she was anxious to meet this man. "Not everyone is a greedy corporate asshole like you. I'm here because your ex is a _psycho_ and I need a place to stay. Or is that too much to ask of you, _dad_?" 

Zeus was fuming. His gaze was dangerously trained on her. Thalia answered with her own steady scowl, all her previous apprehension forgotten, replaced with her anger.

"There is nothing between me and Beryl," he said it like an order. She scoffed.

"Oh, please, I know you've been cheating on your wife with her."

Impossibly, Zeus's eyes darkened.

"That ordeal ended a long time ago. I haven't even seen your mother at all these past few months. What, do you think I have time?" He went on to complain about how his work filled most of his time. Thalia wasn't much interested in that but there was something in his statement that rung true. If they really haven't been seeing each other in a while, that would explain her mother's exceptionally bad moods as of late. One good thing about Thalia's father was that his cock was an excellent distraction to Beryl. On the days they meet up, she's significantly more subdued and rarely bursts into fits of rage like today. The attention of the most powerful man in the world had given her unhealthy amounts of ego. So when she lost his attention, she redirected her wrath on her children. Figures it would be all Zeus's fault.

"Listen," Thalia cuts of his tirade. "You let me stay the night and I don't post this video for all your little acolytes to see."

There was a long, tension-filled moment in which she thought that any second now he's going to strike her but eventually, Zeus only grunted. "One night." 

Thalia scoffed.

"Don't worry. I'm not jumping at the thought of spending time with you either," she said as he passed her, put on his jacket, and shut the door with unnecessary force behind himself as though he were an actual petulant child.

They didn't spend time together at all, turns out. Zeus was gone the entire day and only came back at night with simpering youths that looked to be half his age. It seemed he forgot all about his daughter's presence.

Whatever. Thalia fished out her headphones out of her bag and turned up the volume to muffle the noises coming from the master bedroom. She fell into a restless sleep. The next morning he was gone, leaving a mess of slender bodies in his bed and clutter of empty alcohol bottles in the living room. 

Thalia was glad she met her father. If not for this eye-opening encounter she might've wasted her life longing to know her dad without fully realizing what an A grade douche bag he is.

As she ate breakfast, under the mess of documents on the kitchen table, she noticed a pair of car keys. Her father's Mercedes no doubt. For a moment, she wondered where did he go if he left without a car. Then she realized he probably had a dozen and more sports cars with an assigned chauffeur to each one of them. 

Thalia picked them up, fingered the diamond keychain.

It had been just a fantasy but it would be nice to at least go on a quick ride. Just to get home, of course. Would he even notice a single car missing out of a dozen?

She shrugged and pocketed the car keys. Consider it payment for the years of neglect. Besides, Thalia didn't have enough money for a cab and if he really wanted his car back, he knew where to look for her. 

With that in mind, Thalia finished her pancakes and left.

* * *

Turning the corner, Thalia was met with a sight that made her slow the car and park in front of her neighbor's yard. Ahead, there was a crowd of people swarming her house. Flashes of light and film equipment told her it was paparazzi. What did her mom do this time?

She had gone to pick up Jason from Mrs. Valdez's house to find that apparently, Beryl had already taken him home.

With her heart hammering uncomfortably in her throat, Thalia got out of the car, and passing by nearby onlookers, she pushed her way through the shouting photographers, news reporters, and cameramen. Her mother stood on the porch with her hair curled and glossy, face plastered with an award-winning smile and twinkling eyes as though she was at an official conference.

"Mom. _Mom_!" Thalia shouted. Beryl too big smile turned to her. "Where's Jason?"

"Thalia, sweetie. Come up here." Beryl held out her hand. 

Thalia came closer but didn't take the offered hand. Her anxious eyes weren't leaving her mother's unhinged ones. " _Where_ is Jason?" she repeated.

"Who?" Beryl asked, uncomprehending.

Thalia opened her mouth but her question seemed to spur the crowd to demand questions of their own. "Is Jason the name of the child in the picture?" "Is she talking about your son, Miss Grace?" "Care to comment on the uncanny resemblance of the child to your former paramour, Zeus?" "Maam? Maam! Over here!"

_Click_.

Thalia flinched. A flash of light blinded her. She felt Beryl put her hand on her shoulder as other photographers asked to pose for them.

"I would like to publicly say that the recent photos taken of my daughter and the boy are fake. I do not have a son. I never did. Never in my life have I seen this boy nor did I ever see my daughter associate herself with him. It must've been an especially skillful photoshop. Oh well, internet these days." She laughed. 

Thalia watched the scene unravel before her like a movie except she was both the actress and audience. She watched as Beryl, maintaining her pearly white smile, answered the paparazzi's questions with ease. She saw herself as she stood stock-still beside her mother, befuddled and distant. Is that how Beryl felt watching her own TV shows?

Thalia didn't notice when it got dark, had no recollection of sitting down at the kitchen table and eating dinner with Beryl, no words exchanged between them. Beryl didn't seem to notice any difference, happily munching on yesterday's lasagna and sipping on her wine.

That night, Thalia laid on her bed, eyes staring at the ceiling, in a state of shock. Jason was nowhere to be found. His room was stripped, its contents filled the boxes that now resided in the attic like a shameful secret. A quick google search provided her with an article, "Beryl Grace's secret love child?" with a picture of Thalia and Jason exiting the house. The media was on the brink of revealing Beryl’s well hidden secrets so she had done everything to salvage her image...

Where did she take him? She had no relatives or friends she could trust to keep him out of the public eye. Especially after that statement of him being photoshopped. She would never say something like that unless she was sure that Jason would never be able to show his face again. Otherwise she would be easily caught in a lie. But that confidence she said it with... Beryl must be certain she would never have to worry about Jason showing himself ever again.

Bile clamoring up her throat, Thalia rose from her bed and grabbed her bag to find that it was already packed. Before she knew what she was doing, she slipped into her mother's room, searched her purse, and slipped one of many glossy credit cards out of her wallet.

With Jason gone, there was nothing binding her to this place.

**Author's Note:**

> so, I'm VERY new to writing and largely consumed with self-doubt but we just need more Thalia Grace and family-oriented fics in this fandom. because I said so :)
> 
> Please leave a comment if you liked the story so far.


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